Eternal Bonds
by Reticent Onslaught
Summary: Twenty-two years since the Allspark was destroyed, and Megatron's defeat, the Autobots have remained on Earth, serving as the guardians of humanity. They have studied us, and learned our ways, but it seems they picked up on a dangerous human emotion.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was setting across the horizon.

The warm mixture of reds, yellows, blues and purples seemed to calm the buzz of the sidewalks of the city. It was a Sunday night, so many people were returning to their homes to go to bed early for work and school the following day. But there was one that didn't seem to care what time it was. Having left the apartment of a friend of hers, she didn't exactly want to go rushing home to her annoying family. An occasional breeze would ruffle her dark brown hair or her silk, maroon top a bit, but she payed no attention to it. Like a pretty little lost bird, it seemed as though she didn't know where she was. But being born in this city, she knew perfectly well where she was. But just a few moments ago when she had gone to where she _thought_ her car was at, she had begun to panic when she couldn't find it.  
>Having spent the last hour...or possibly two, looking for her car, after every corner she turned, her steps grew quicker and her eyes displaying more worry.<br>"Where the hell is my car?" She asked herself in a soft murmur, looking around with even more panic than a minute ago. It had to be here somewhere. A 2008 Chevy Volt wouldn't just grow legs and walk off on her, so there were only two possibilities.

One: She was losing her mind and just couldn't remember where she parked it.  
>Two: Someone stole it.<p>

Finding herself quite sane, it could only be option number two. Someone stole her damn car. Angrily, she stomped a foot onto the cement, bent forward a bit, and dug her fingers into her long hair. Holding back a scream, the girl instead let out an angry growl through clenched teeth. She didn't want to bring any unwanted attention to herself by making a lot of noise.  
>Untangling her fingers from her hair and inhaling slowly, she looked around one more time.<br>Seemed that the only car around was a police cruiser. She should report her car being stolen to the cop inside.  
>Yeah, that was a good idea.<br>With a quick fix of her hair, the girl started towards the police cruiser and tapped lightly on the passenger side window. Leaning forward to peek inside the car, luckily enough, there was a man inside. He appeared to be in his late 30s or early 40s, sunglasses over his eyes and a light brown, possibly blond mustache under his nose. But that was common of many of the police officers around here, so the girl thought nothing of it.

"Excuse me, sir?" She said and raised her hand to give the window another tap, but it rolled down before she had the chance.  
>"What is it?" The man growled, his attention caught up in the computer that was held by a stand attached to the dashboard.<br>"I think my car was stolen. Don't most cars these days have a tracking device that turns on if a car is stolen, so you guys can find it easier?"  
>"Name and license plate."<br>"Nicole Witwicky, 1859 006."  
>The officer stiffened in his seat and didn't type the information into the computer. But he did finally turn to look at her.<br>"You're the spawn of the Witwicky boy?" It asked, but the voice coming from the man was different now, rough and almost...machine like.

Nicole frowned slightly, eyebrows pressed together and she took a hesitant step back. "Spawn? Witwicky boy? You- you mean my father? How do you know him?"

"That does not concern you, human. Now, I believe you'll be coming with me."

The door of the cruiser popped open, there was a flash of silver, and before she even knew what had happened, was inside the cruiser and tightly strapped to the seat. "What the fuck do you want with me?" She demanded, squirming slightly in the tight seat as her eyes seemed to shoot daggers at the officer. Suddenly, however, she froze.  
>Had he just...flickered? Like a light? No, no, no. She was just imagining things.<br>Receiving no response to her question, she squirmed even more, trying desperately to get free.  
>"Answer me!"<p>

The engine of the cruiser seemed to growl as the seat belt tightened around her. Uttering a soft gasp, she looked around outside the cruiser for any sort of help. But there didn't seem to be any around.

"The Witwicky fleshbag is sure to gather up his little Autobot allies once he finds that his offspring has disappeared."

Autobots? Where had she heard that before? But whoever they were, if they were friends of his father, that was all she needed to hear.

* * *

><p>Primus, that girl was always up to <em>something<em>.

For the first time in twenty-two years, Optimus could honestly appreciate the turmoil of anxiety that Nicole must have put her parents through on a daily basis. Being a parent seemed to be an incredibly difficult task, from what Prime and the other Autobots had observed in secret over these 'many' years. The Witwicky family had three offspring, each unique, and each with their own problems. It appeared to be a pretty thankless job, though Optimus had observed tender moments among many chaotic ones.

But Nicole Witwicky was, without a doubt, the most rebellious of their children he had seen. Despite her parents best efforts to keep her safe, she always seemed to test the boundaries. Staying out late, refusing to call back and quell her Mother's anxiety, anything she apparently could do to make them worry even more, she did. Optimus found it a bit odd that she'd never opened up to her parents the way she had to various Autobots at the old shop. But humans were a peculiar species, he'd known that already. And as far as her opening up to them was concerned, Nicole hadn't even known just who and what they were. To the young woman, those had been nothing more than lifeless, mindless machines. Just inanimate objects that would never register or repeat the many things she tended to spew out around them.

Some were just ordinary vehicles, but some weren't. And it was through the odd Autobot here or there, himself included, that he'd come to know bits and pieces of her personality, even problems of hers that her parents had more than likely never experienced. It had always pained Optimus when the Witwickys had severed their ties with the Autobots and taken off to avoid ever coming into contact with them again, but that had...and always would be, their choice to make. No matter how much it hurt, it was probably for the best in the end anyway. Human life was, after all, incredibly fleeting.

So why then, had they never respected their friend's decision?

The fact they hadn't tended to plague Optimus with guilt quite frequently, sometimes making him wish he'd never prodded the other Autobots into helping him spy on their friends.

But he had good reason to. Optimus had always suspected that the Decepticons would come back, and knew that no matter how hard the Witwicky family tried to hide, the Decepticons would find them eventually. Now that they had children, their enemies would not hesitate to make the young ones suffer in order to make their revenge that much sweeter. For the good of Sam, Carly, and _especially _their offspring, the Autobots had to break protocol and keep an eye on them, even when they weren't wanted.

If Sam and Carly ever found out, they would be understandably outraged. Prime was willing to take their rage when it came, but he was not willing to show up only after the Decepticons had made their mark. Once the threat to their family was gone for good, Optimus would ensure that the Witwicky family never came into contact with the Autobots again, if that was still their wish. Only when the Decepticons were through hunting them down, could they truly live a normal life. He'd promised to protect them through thick and thin, when they needed him, and that meant even if he was to be hated for it, as long as it was best for them. Decepticons never tired from destruction.

..And, speaking of Decepticons...

" It _can't _be."

His tone became worried, rightfully so as his radar was indicated a Decepticon signature somewhere in the city. Somewhere _close_. Identical with Barricade's certain 'code', Optimus knew he had to pause his search for Nicole for the moment, and ensure Barricade wasn't causing any harm to human life or property. He would continue the search for her later, when he'd chased Barricade away. Optimus didn't even want to think about what would happen, if the Decepticons managed to figure out the Witwicky had children and who they were.

Little did he know, as he sped off toward the source of the signal, that he was already too late to prevent that.

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><p><strong>As always, reviews are very welcome. Don't be shy!<br>Obviously I do not own Transformers. Though I'd like to think of Nicole to be my character and mine alone.**


	2. Chapter 2

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh? He hadn't told you? Your father killed my leader when he was about your age. It's amazing a little fleshbag like him managed such a thing, but it was only because he had the Allspark. Should have taken the slaggin' thing and killed that Autobot."

_Allspark? What the hell is an 'Allspark'?_

"I don't know what you're talking about, but my father never killed anyone. Stop lying."

A low rumble came from the cruiser, hopefully it was the car at least, because she didn't see the man move. Yet again, Nicole squirmed in the almost suffocatingly tight seat belt. Weren't these things supposed to SAVE lives? At this rate, they'll kill her, or the police man will.  
>Why hadn't she registered her phone to her car's tracking system like her friends told her to? It would have only taken her a second, after all. But no, she had to be an idiot and not bother. If she had done so sooner, she wouldn't be here right now.<p>

"Lying? Far from it. I'd love to tell you the entire story, but I'm sure your tiny human brain couldn't take all the information at once. Perhaps it'd be better to show you."

The door of the cruiser popped open and the seat belt snapped back against the frame. Not waiting a second, she scrambled out and onto the sidewalk. As soon as she got onto said sidewalk, a strange sound seemed to come from the car. It was another metallic sound, but more like metal scraping on metal, gears, pipes and the frame shifting, and soon enough, a rather large...thing stood before her. Wait. What? It looked like a giant robot. Surely she was imagining all this. Maybe she had been hit by a car and was in a coma in the hospital, just having a strange...coma induced dream. Yeah, that was it. Just a dream.

But if she was in fact just dreaming, then why did this feel so real? Why was she able to feel the pressure against her ribs as the seat belt had tightened? No matter what, she had to get away from this giant robot. Staggering backwards a few steps, looking up at this robot, it seemed to be stepping closer to her as she tried to get away. He-...it, seemed to be very fast, seeing as it was just a rather old model of a Mustang a minute ago, so running would be pointless. Watching as it crouched forward to be closer to her eye level, what looked like a smirk formed on it's...face. Nicole really couldn't properly register what was going on. Only that this couldn't be possible.

"Now then. I'm sure your "Father" as you called it had at least mentioned some "giant robots" to you at one point and time, am I correct?" The robot creature snarled at her.

She frowned, searching through her mind for any mention of giant robots. Wait, wasn't Colton like...obsessed with them? He believed their dad's stories so much, the paintings were all over his bedroom. How could she have forgotten that?

"Y-yes, I think he has."

"Do you believe him now? That pathetic boy killed my leader, and I've been ordered to use anything connected to him to get his "friends" out of hiding. I'll be taking you, and I would recommend not trying anything, unless you'd like to be..."road kill" on the way back to my comrades."  
>Without bothering to wait for her response, the robot plucked her up off the ground.<p>

* * *

><p>He'd only just rounded the corner, when a strange tug at his spark prompted him to gun his vehicle form's engines and go just a little faster. The idea had seemed a bit too careless to him at first, given the fact he was in the middle of a heavily-populated human city. However, diagnostics revealed that there were no humans currently in the path his navigational system had charted for him in order to reach the Decepticon in the shortest amount of time, a rare moment of opportunity. Though he took a few seconds to weigh the pros and cons of such reckless behavior, the longer he waited, the more his spark stirred up this..Anxiety to reach his destination.<p>

Finally, he'd decided to bite the bullet and just go. Since his systems had indicated there were no humans in his way, there was nothing for him to worry about. Prime would not intentionally destroy anything by speeding up, and if there was trouble, getting there as fast as he possibly could was the only logical solution. He'd had this feeling in his spark before, and the outcome had never been a good one. Especially when it came to the eldest child of the Witwicky family. Thus, Prime knew the chance he was taking simply had to be done.

He took sharp turn after sharp turn, darting in and out of side streets, speeding up with each second that passed by. People would gaze from windows, or from cafes located on the sidewalks in wonder, nobody knowing just what kind of situation called for a peterbilt truck to be going nearly 70 miles per hour in a residential area, engines roaring.

He was only lucky it was an off-time for this part of the city, and that the majority of traffic was located in another place. The side streets helped him avoid the odd car here or there with a group of humans inside, and he did well to miss or simply skim parked cars he came too close to.

Finally, he turned around the corner, his spark writhing with rage at what scene he came upon.

_Barricade was attacking her_!

Frantic, and desperate to save the young human before the Decepticon could kill or abduct her, Prime honked his horn loudly to get the Decepticon's attention, screeching to a halt on the road.

As smoke billowed from skid marks he'd burned onto the road, Optimus transformed quickly, the truck's parts sliding to and fro as intensely they had that day in Mission city, when he'd finally arrived at the battle to take on Megatron.

And boy, this time was it personal.

" Leave the girl alone," he ordered, armor positioning itself over his face, " Or face the consequences."

Barricade glanced up from his target, and over at Optimus. One claw lazily ran down the girl's throat, and a disturbingly human grin was set on his face. "Oh, welcome, welcome, Optimus Prime. You're just in time."  
>Nicole let out a shallow gasp at the sight of the oddly familiar Peterbilt's furious transformation into another robot. This one however, was much larger than the one that had a hold of her. And then it hit, why she knew this truck. She had been working on it ever since she could remember. It had been a gift from her grandfather, like all the cars that had been through her shop had been. And it was the last one he'd brought in before his death. By far her favorite out of all of them too. She'd always felt at ease around the Peterbilt, like nothing else mattered.<p>

Realizing now though that her prized truck was also a giant robot, Nicole began to panic further.

Barricade let out a low growl, and drew the girl closer to him. He was getting tired of this very quickly. "Now, girl. Where is your father?"  
>She spit at him and her hazel eyes stared right into his eerie red ones, "Fuck you." A taunting grin appeared on her face as she tried to push aside her fear, for her own sake. The other robot-her truck- she noticed tense up from out of the corner of her eye. "Barricade," he growled, "I said <em>leave her.<em>"

"OR WHAT?" Barricade snapped suddenly, and his grip on her tightened, making her gasp again. A sharp pain ran through her body as two of her ribs snapped. "You wouldn't dare attack me here, Optimus! You would put the girl, and everyone in the surrounding buildings in danger. _Don't make me laugh._"

Nicole groaned loudly as the whole world began to spin, the horrible pain of her snapped ribs overwhelmed her, and the lack of oxygen finally taking effect. Feebly attempting one more time to get herself free, everything went black, and she went limp in her captors hand. Barricade noticed her go limp, and looked down at her. Seemingly disappointed, he let out a grunt, and simply dropped the girl. Optimus let out a very visible flinch, and his anger boiled over at the sight of Nicole falling to a heap on the sidewalk. But the only thing keeping him from attacking, was that the Decepticon was right. He couldn't risk the lives of the humans in the buildings, and even worse, if he did act, what would've kept Barricade from simply crushing Nicole?

Barricade had simply discarded her, like a piece of trash, leaving Optimus seething. But there was nothing he could do. Just wait for the Decepticon to hopefully get bored.

And exactly that happened. Barricade chuckled to himself, a disgusting scraping noise. "Well, I believe I shall depart, Mighty Optimus. Your little pet lives to see another day. But that doesn't mean she is out of danger." With that, he transformed into his broken down police car mode, and sped off.


	3. Chapter 3

**All future chapters have some possibility of Dark of the Moon spoilers. If you haven't watched it, don't read on until you have.**

He carefully approached the girl, reading what vital signs he could - and not without a breath of relief. She was still alive, that was a good sign! He could keep her safe now, and make sure no other Decepticons came to harm her.

..Well, until she woke up. He was going against Sam's wishes for this, but since it was in favor of Nicole's life, Optimus was willing to take the risk of Sam hating him even more. He only hoped the girl wouldn't feel the same way, it would just drive all the past pain home.

But as long as she was alright, if it was her choice to run back home, he would have to live with that. Optimus did hope she would see there was nothing to fear, however.

" I've got you.."

The words were another painful reminder of the past, but he ignored that as he gently tried to waken her. Optimus would have tried to move her somewhere else himself, and was more than willing to offer her a ride back home or to any safe place. He just needed her to be awake to give her that ride, and knowing she'd never seen him like this before, he didn't want to chance scaring her even more than was inevitable by carrying her somewhere else.

Prime just hoped, for his sake, she would wake up soon. If other humans started coming, and they would soon, he would transform and watch from the shadows. They usually took care of their own kind.

* * *

><p>Nicole didn't hear what she expected to when she finally woke. No epic robot battle, nothing. Was she dead? No...That couldn't be, because she heard the hum of traffic and could feel the sidewalk underneath her. Had she blacked out then? That seemed more reasonable.<p>

An eerie feeling overcame her, a cold chill that shot through every nerve cell in her body. One of them was staring at her. She could sense it. But which one was it? She prayed quickly that it was the Peterbilt, opened her eyes just a crack, and rolled from on her side to her back. The sharp pain of her broken ribs made her gasp loudly, and regretted not having taken more caution with her injury. Staring up into her savior's bright blue eyes, she couldn't help but give a curious frown. Was it possible for a robot to show emotions through their eyes like that? She had always figured only humans and certain animals-like dogs-could do that. But sure enough, he looked worried. She continued to stare up at him, but remained silent, until he spoke up.

Optimus performed another quick scan of the girl, and found everything for the most part intact, except for an area of bone in her upper torso that he knew nothing about. The injury could've been nothing, or something very serious. Either way, his knowledge didn't extend to human health. That was more Ratchet's forte. But nonetheless, it was necessary for her to get to a care facility.

"Fear not, Nicole Witwicky, I am your friend not your enemy. I was... A friend of your Father, Samuel James Witwicky, and your mother Carly Spencer, for many years." He finally said.

He'd sensed a little bit of apprehension behind those eyes of hers. Nothing unexpected or unjustified, but Optimus felt it was his duty to try and make her feel better, if nothing else.

"Are you alright? What did Barricade want with you?"

He hadn't heard the entire conversation, and though he had his suspicions he wanted to hear it from her mouth to confirm it. But, realizing this might attract unnecessary attention, Prime took several steps backwards until he was a safe distance, then transformed back into the faded Peterbilt and opened the passenger side door for her.

Nicole raised her eyebrows slightly, and watched his every movement carefully before rising to her feet. "He wanted my father, for some reason or another. I think he was going to use me to get you guys out of hiding. I-"

"It seems you are damaged, though. At the very least, let me take you to a hospital, or somewhere you can be repaired" He added, and Nicole chuckled to herself.  
>It seemed like he had been here on Earth for quite some time, but he used <em>repaired<em> when addressing her broken ribs. She wanted to correct him, but figured it would be rude and climbed inside. Examining the inside-something she was already very familiar with, strangely enough- she looked outside the window as he drove off.

"Thanks for saving me-Uh...What's your name?" He knew her name perfectly already, and probably had for some time, but she didn't know his. Or at least didn't remember it from all the stories she'd heard as a child. "My name is Optimus Prime," He said almost proudly. His voice growled through the interior speakers. "The leader of the Autobots. We are here to help protect humanity and your world from the likes of the evil Decepticons. And, speaking of them..Nicole, you have to warn your family. The Decepticons will never stop, and though we will do everything we can to protect you and your family, we cannot be everywhere. As it is, your father wished for some distance between us, which is why you need to be the one to tell him of this threat."

Nicole idly brushed her hand across the dashboard as he spoke, thinking carefully about his words, a sharp burst of static leaped from a metal screw and into her palm, making her snap her hand back.

_What the hell was that?_She thought and gave her hand a quick shake. Perhaps it would be best to keep her hands to herself.

"Are you alright, Nicole? Forgive me, I do not know where that came from. Perhaps I should take you to the hospital?"

"I'm fine," She replied, "I get it all the time when working. And there isn't much that can be done for broken ribs. I just can't do a whole lot of running, or being attacked by robots for a while. Thank you for the offer though. And how am I supposed to tell my parents that the Decepticons are back? We can't exactly just pack up and leave."

Confused by her priorities of school and the social life that he knew everything about, Optimus let out a sort of sigh. Why must the Decepticons always create such problems? But regardless, he still believed they were a big enough threat to the family-and of course humanity-with or without Megatron. They had even managed to get his _mentor_ in on their scheme. They were crafty, they were ruthless, and every solar cycle that passed that they were still around dug up a hatred in his spark that he never liked.

"Believe me, Nicole, I know every possible problem that can follow such a confession. But as hard as it may be for your family to pick up and move, as angry as your father and mother might be at me, even if they ensure I will never be able to find your family again, until things become safe again, it is in your best interest. We are doing our best to find and neutralize the Decepticon threats, but as you can see, they're not as easy to get rid of as history might otherwise have you believe. Your life, and the life of each of your family members, is more important than whatever trouble the both of us will get in. It will only take one Decepticon to destroy your entire family, in a matter of minutes. If we were to be held up by others elsewhere, unable to help, and your family did not know the danger..." Optimus could hardly finish the thought. She was more than sharp enough to know what he was implying, and just knowing that the situation could easily happen made his spark hurt even further. Even if Sam became furious at the Autobots for finding his daughter, Optimus still knew that the man would be sure to take his warning to heart, and relocate.

"Just...take me home, please." Nicole said after a long silence between them. She glanced down at her hand and noticed a short, sharp, slightly curved line had appeared on her hand, with a sharp hooked point going half way down the line on the left side. Trying to clean the line off of her hand, she frowned when nothing happened. How strange.

"As you wish," came Optimus' soft reply.

The two fell back into silence once again for nearly the entire trip, when Nicole finally decided to break it, to ease his worry. "I will still warn my family, Optimus, and see what they think, but-" She was about to touch her hair, like she always did when she was feeling awkward, when a scene flashed in her mind. It was brief, like a lightning strike, but vivid enough for her to know what it was. It was another robot, reddish-black, much older than Optimus, laying broken and defeated on the ground.

"All I ever wanted was the survival of our race. You must see why I had to betray you-" It said, even it's voice sounded old, and full of fear.

Just like that, it was gone, and left Nicole bewildered. It took a moment for her to realize where she was, almost onto her street in the truck that's been sitting in her shop for years, which was actually a robot.  
>"You can just drop me off here," she muttered nervously, "wouldn't want to wake up the entire neighborhood. I'll walk the rest of the way."<br>"Fair enough. And do not forget to tell your parents what I told you, Nicole. Be more careful next time." He sounded like her parents, which disgusted her for a brief moment. But she gave a nod, regardless of that.  
>"I will. And thank you again, Optimus Prime."<p>

She exited the truck, and made her way to her house, which wasn't too far down the road that he dropped her off at. Sneaking in through the back, she was almost in the clear for the stairs when she stepped on the tail of her cat, which let out an ear splitting yowl. Only a moment later, her younger brother Scott came running with a bat in his hands. But luckily enough for the both of them, he noticed it was only his sister before he attacked.

"Nicole! Where the hell have you been? Mom almost hyperventilated earlier at dinner when you didn't show up!"

She frowned and looked away into the dining room. Her dinner plate was still there, food cold and hard, but there.

"Ran into some...problems on the way home." Shoving past him to go up the stairs, she went into her room, changed, and curled up in her bed to think the day through.


	4. Chapter 4

**Have a specific 'Bot or 'Con you'd like to see? Leave their name in the Reviews! I'll take the first five for right now  
>and see what I can do with 'em! Same applies to humans. Don't be shy!<br>And hooray! My first 300+ views in one day! Thanks guys~  
><strong>

* * *

><p>She had never really liked Mondays, but this one by far had to be the worst she's ever had to endure.<p>

All throughout the day strange images like the one she had witnessed before had been popping into her head. All of them had other strange alien robot things in them, but there was something different happening each time, and unfortunately for her they only stayed in her sight for a few seconds. Along with that, after these images appeared, a terrible pain in her head followed, like a headache that lasted for only a few minutes.

_What is going on with me?_

She thought, utterly confused as she drove home from school, gripping the steering wheel rather tight.

"Uh...Sis? I think you're gonna break the wheel if you hold it any tighter...and I think you missed the turn."

Scott, who Nicole had completely forgotten about, pointed out softly as he watched her. On occasions she would drive her brothers to school and home to save gas. But only Scott was with her today. Colton had taken his own car to school, and he had to stay after for some activity that didn't interest her.  
>Snapping herself back to what was going on, she noticed her hands, white at the knuckles.<p>

"Oh, I-...sorry, I was just thinking about something."

Trying to focus on where she was going again, the confused little butterflies in her stomach lurched as she came to a conclusion.

_That robot did this to me. He must have._

Slamming on the breaks and skidding into a very sharp U-turn, Nicole's destination changed instantly. Not home anymore. The Autoshop.  
>Desperately clutching the seat in surprise at his sister's sudden action, his eyes grew wide and he looked out the window.<p>

"Nicole! Where are you going?"

"Just to the shop. It shouldn't take too long."

Luckily enough, the shop wasn't too far from where they already were, so the detour was quick and the two soon pulled into the parking lot.

"Stay here, I'll try to be quick, but if you hear anything strange going on, stay in the car." Nicole warned as she stepped out of the dark blue Ford Edge.

"Er...Alright, I'll stay here." Scott replied, still very confused as to what was going on.

Clad in dark blue torn up blue jeans and a colorful T-shirt, Nicole had tried to look decent today, but the dark circles that ran under her eyes and her tousled hair proved her wrong. Storming into the large garage of the shop and searching it for the blue and red semi, she was surprised to find a girl she didn't know in there, talking to the Camaro and the Search and Rescue Hummer.

_Well, I guess I know who's an alien robot, and who isn't. But who the heck is this girl?_

She took a few steps towards the girl, one eyebrow raised curiously.

"Um...Hello. Who're you?" Nicole asked, before shaking her head and more or less cancelling out her question. "Nevermind, it doesn't really matter. As long as you're not here to steal a car or something, you're welcome here." She'd talk to the girl in a moment. Finding the Peterbilt sitting quietly in a corner of the shop, she approached him.

"Prime, what the fuck did you do to me?"

"Excuse me?" Came his innocent reply to her spectacularly polite greeting. He knew that whenever a human used that particular four-lettered word, nothing good was to follow, so he was prepared for whatever it was that she had to say. He was surprised by the fact that she hadn't bothered taking the other girl's presence into consideration before she let the expletive fly. "What's wrong Nicole?"  
>She frowned and crossed her arms, even more irritated by his tone. Did he really not know what he did to her? Another throbbing pain coursed through her head, which she struggled to hide from him. Nothing seemed to quell the pain, and frankly she was getting tired of it. Glancing over to the other girl, she turned back to Optimus.<p>

"Something happened last night when you zapped me. These weird images have been popping up in my head all day, like little memories that weren't mine. I couldn't tell what was going on in most of them, but I noticed there were other robot things like you and your friends here. There was talk about something called the "AllSpark", a lot of fighting, some guy called "The Fallen", something about a "Space Bridge" and I even saw my parents a few times." Nicole explained and watched the truck before her. She didn't know what she was looking at, what part of him, and it made her uneasy. For all she knew, she was talking to his leg or something, and it weirded her out.

Prime shifted his weight a little, though since he was in his vehicle mode, it probably wasn't as obvious an action as it would have been in robot mode. He didn't understand this. Presumably, there was the possibility she had gone through what humans called 'dreaming', and if her parents had told her of the battle and the Autobots, she very well could have lodged the information in her subconscious, and it might have come to the surface as the result of her shock in meeting two alien robots in the same day.

That was the logical answer, Prime believed. But then, there was that nagging afterthought. Sam and Carly had gone to great measure to keep their children away from the war and the robots, and Nicole had been so surprised to see him in addition to Barricade, one could have assumed she'd never seen a giant, alien robot before. It would have made sense if she didn't either. Her parents could have neglected to mention the existence of Autobots and Decepticons to their children. That too, would have made perfect sense.

But that left him with a feeling of dread trying to figure out what she had gone through. If she honestly didn't know anything about Mission city or their kind up until, well, now, she shouldn't have been able to see those things. And the fact it had only happened after he had somehow zapped her just made things worse.

" ..I suppose then, somehow, bits of my memory must have been passed to you."

He still wasn't sure why, or how it was possible, or how to even fix it. But sensing some distress in her voice and body language, he knew she was looking for a way to remedy the 'problem'. He honestly didn't know if there was one. From what she was describing, it sounded like some of his more traumatic memories too, something he wouldn't wish to haunt even his worst enemy.

"That must be the only explanation then, because I didn't see you at all in any of them. But I heard you." Nicole said softly, eyebrows still pressed together. Turning her attention to the ground, she kicked at it slightly with the front of her shoe and remained quiet for a few long moments. It was awkward, feeling eyes on you, but being unable to see them.

A cute little electronic chirping noise broke through the silence between them, causing Nicole to scramble for the phone in her pocket.  
>"What do you want Scott?" She growled.<p>

"Dad wants to know where we are, I've got him on the other line. Sounds like work didn't go too well, so he's pretty irritated."

"Tell him we just stopped at the shop real quick."

"But I have to get ready for football-"

"Then take the car and go home! I'll walk! Bye." Closing the phone before he had a chance to say anything else, Nicole put it away and briefly looked to the others in the shop. She knew full well that she was making a scene, and probably a fool of herself, but she didn't really care right now. Glancing up at Optimus, she figured she could give him time to think, and walked over to the girl. She looked younger than Nicole by a few years, with long dirty blonde hair, and...a weird fashion sense. Dressed in bright pink shorts, purple and black knee-high socks with matching arm warmers, and a camouflage shirt with dog tags, Nicole couldn't help but be curious as to the girls age.

"Sorry about that, I had to take care of something. May I ask who you are?" She ventured.  
>The girl turned around from her conversation with the two other vehicles, her pale blue eyes alight. "I'm Annabelle Lennox. You must be Nicole Witwicky, right? I've heard about you. Your father worked with mine numerous times with the Autobots!"<br>Nicole tilted her head to the side, "I guess he has. And to think I only thought of them as stories we were told. Who knew they were actually real?"  
>"Oh I've known for a long time, just haven't gotten to see them for a long time. Last time was when I was only a few years old." She turned to face the Search and Rescue Hummer. "Too bad what happened to Ironhide though..." Annabelle added softly, "I'll really miss him. Dad liked him a lot too."<p>

"Indeed, we all still miss Ironhide, but he is with the rest of our fallen brothers now," the Hummer spoke up, his voice was humbling.

Optimus let out a weird noise, like someone trying to clear their throat. "I nearly forgot, Nicole. That, is Ratchet, our medical officer. And next to him, is Bumblebee. He served as your father's guardian."  
>The Camaro let out a little chirp, mimicking her ringtone, and she couldn't help but smile. "There has to be more of you guys though, right? More than you three?"<br>"Of course," Ratchet said, "They are all simply scattered around the planet, providing intelligence, and helping humanity to the best of their abilities."  
>"But wouldn't the governments of the world try and use them for war?" Annabelle asked.<br>"There is no need to fear about that, Annabelle. We may assist in bringing down criminals, but we will never participate in your wars. Only if the Decepticons come out from hiding, will we fight."

A sharp hiss of static filled the shop suddenly. Annabelle jumped, but the noise didn't startle Nicole however. It was simply the radio, programmed to turn on when songs she enjoyed, or interesting news bits came on. Music didn't start right away, so it was likely the latter.

"Mike, what's going on over there?" A woman's voice, shaky and filled with worry, asked.

"I-it appears to be a military jet flying dangerously close the roof of a building. It's just flying in circles though. Wait, since when did the military have jets painted dark blue? That's odd." A male replied, but his voice was a bit hard to hear. The roar of helicopter blades spinning could be heard in the background. It was probably a news copter, so if anything happened with the jet, it was left defenseless.

"The police can't seem to get it out of our airspace. The pilot doesn't want to reply, or even acknowledge the orders." He continued on. "Wait, it's...what the hell? It's coming towards us now. Pull up, pull up!" Mike cried frantically to the pilot. But it appeared his order was too late. The sound of bullets hissed through the little radio, then a brief, terrible scream. Then static.

Nicole scrambled over to a table and shut the radio off, hands trembling horribly.  
>She didn't want to know what just happened, but she could only assume that whatever had shot down the helicopter was a Decepticon. No member of the military would dare do what this jet did, or even TRY and take out a helicopter.<p>

"Dark blue?" Optimus asked once the radio was shut off.

Horrified as he was to have heard everything that had gone on, Prime was quickly trying to rationalize the entire situation at hand. He had quickly come to the same conclusion as Nicole, as this sort of thing was protocol for the Decepticons. Fuming with anger, Prime quickly searched his data banks for the 'con who best fit the profile.

In only a matter of moments, one in particular had come to mind. _Thundercracker_.

"It's Thundercracker," he growled, " A Decepticon."

The latter portion of his statement had already been quite obvious, but Optimus felt it had to be said, regardless. Seething to himself, the truck made a sharp hiss that could have almost passed for an angry sound from the robot it really was, before pulling out carefully from its current position in the shop.

"Autobots, it's time to engage. Let's roll-out."

He ordered his soldiers, while debating silently what to do with Nicole. He couldn't very well drag her along for this due to the danger of the mission, but if Thundercracker came any further into the area and started attacking the buildings, Nicole's life wouldn't be safe here either.

Thus, he came to the conclusion he would have to somehow lead the trigger-happy seeker away from the town, and away from Nicole.  
>"You should remain here," Optimus advised. "We'll lead him away, and it's much too foolish of me to even think of bringing you along and putting your life on the line."<p>

He knew she wouldn't like that decision. None of the humans he'd ever befriended did, and Optimus had a sneaking suspicion that somehow, he'd either be made to cave in to an alternate option, or she would somehow put herself in harm's way. Things usually seemed to go along that pattern, as far as their human allies were concerned.


	5. Chapter 5

The F-15 continued to circle low around the buildings, watching as the Helicopter fell towards the streets. Flames and smoke billowed from the unfortunate little craft and it finally slammed into the pavement. It was a spectacular sight, at least for a moment. Thundercracker's attention span for things such as this seemed to be a little short. Wave after wave of orders from the police filled his radio, all basically ordering the same thing, to leave the air space. But that wasn't going to happen. After all, he wasn't going to end his fun so soon.  
>With a quick little barrel roll, Thundercracker moved to another building, this one a bit lower. With a chuckle, he opened fire on the crowd of police officers below, barely missing them, and flew away with an earsplitting roar from his engines. Waiting just outside the city for a few long moments, he circled back, though now much much lower, just a few stories higher than the pavement. Transforming furiously in midair, he landed in an intersection, and slid to a halt.<p>

He was almost tempted to make a hilarious greeting to the pathetic little bugs that were trying to fight him, but he refrained only because he couldn't think of anything snappy enough.

* * *

><p>Traffic struggled to get out of the way of Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and a bright red Ferrari 458 Italia, Mirage, who had shown up just moments ago from seemingly no where. The noise of the three combined was enough of a warning for those ahead to pull out of the way, their engines roared like thunder. Bumblebee happily lead the other two to the Decepticon's location. He knew every route, every back road, every shortcut to this city, so naturally he was up front. Ratchet hadn't joined them today. Optimus felt it would've been better for the medic bot to stay with the girls to keep them company, and to answer any questions they had about the Autobots.<p>

"I am glad we can finally be of some use again," Mirage said, mentioning the fact that the Decepticons hadn't been active in this portion of the country for a long time now. "There hasn't been any activity in my sector for years now."  
>"There was some activity last night with Sam's daughter. Barricade found her, but luckily I was nearby." Optimus explained to him, but Bumblebee let out a surprised little squeal.<br>"You never told Ratchet and I that Barricade got to Nicole!" It took him a moment to speak, still needing to use his radio for speech.  
>"Oh, my apologies, I must have been distracted once I returned to the auto shop." He said sincerely. It wasn't normal for Optimus to slip up on informing his soldiers about the Decepticons movements.<p>

Even now, he felt distracted, not only because of his slip up, but the needless attack on the innocent humans of the city, and his ever nagging worry regarding Nicole. Something in the very back of his processors, covered by all of his other worries, told him that she probably wasn't going to stay behind.

* * *

><p>Optimus really must've not known her too well, thinking she'd just stay behind because he told her to. If her father was always taking part of this war when he was her age, there was no way she was going to do what Optimus asked. It was impossible for Nicole to gravitate away from trouble. Grinning to herself for a second, she approached Annabelle, who was talking to Ratchet. Pulling her away from the medic-bot, Annabelle frowned, confused.<p>

"What's up?" The older girl asked.  
>"Want to come with me to the city?" Nicole whispered.<br>"But didn't Optimus say-"  
>"That's <em>exactly<em> why we should go! C'mon, I got a plan so we can sneak away while Ratchet's not looking."  
>Annabelle stared at her for a few long moments, before smiling wide. "I like you, Nicole."<br>"I like me too, now I'll go distract him. There's a light blue Ford in the parking lot. Go wait there for me."  
>"Alright, will do."<p>

Walking over to Ratchet, she gave his hood a little tap. "Hey, uh, Ratchet?"  
>"Yes Nicole?"<br>"What do you do exactly?"  
>"I provide repairs for our soldiers that were damaged in battle."<br>"So you're a mechanic."  
>"...In your terms, yes."<br>"Then you would be able to help me with one of the cars out back, right? It's a tough one. Can't figure out what's wrong."  
>"Sure, Nicole, I'd be glad to help." He sounded a bit more chipper now. Perhaps he hadn't been put to use in quite some time.<br>"Awesome. Follow me then." She lead him out to the yard, to a 2015 Chevy Silverado, faded gold and somewhat rusted. It had been sitting here for two months now, with a customer patiently waiting for their truck.

"Right here."  
>"I'll give it a thorough diagnostic check and go from there."<br>A sharp blue light shone from the Hummer's headlights, and slowly scanned the truck, starting from the front.

"You know, Nicole, I find your interest in vehicles and machines strange, seeing how your parents are." Ratchet said, trying to prevent some awkwardness between them.  
>"I've thought the same thing a million times, actually. I don't know where it comes from. Dad loves his cars, sure, but he's as handy as a rock, and mom, she's only good at being pretty. I guess I lucked out with my grandfather collecting once he retired." Nicole chuckled slightly to herself. It was one of the unanswered questions of her life.<br>"Honestly, I feel your interests would have made much more sense had Mikaela been your mother."  
>"Who?"<br>"Mikaela Banes? Your father's girlfriend before your mother."  
>"Wasn't she the one that snapped one day and left my father after he was supposedly almost killed by the Decepticons?"<br>"Indeed she was."  
>"Do you know what happened to her?"<br>"I do not."

Ratchet beeped loudly once his scan finished, and he gave an embarrassed little grunt. "Um, just give me a moment to process the scan, and I'll have what's wrong for you."

Now was her chance.

"Great! Can you wait for me though, Ratchet? I'm gonna get something from inside."  
>"Alright."<p>

She casually walked back into the shop, and once out of Ratchet's sight, ran for the car Annabelle was waiting in. In one fluid motion, she pried open the door, got inside, slammed it closed, and started it with a simple tap of a button. The car was electric, so it was near silent. Perfect for stalking the Autobots into the city. Peeling out of the parking lot, the girls headed towards the action.

* * *

><p>The Autobot trio finally arrived at their destination. Police cruisers burned on the side of the road, pieces scattered everywhere, civilians desperately trying to get to safety. The nagging pain in Optimus' spark returned, as it always did when he saw innocent bystanders being harmed, and quickly enough, it turned to anger when he found Thundercracker down the road playing with a male and his mate, idly tossing them in the air, and catching them again. Their horrified screams pierced Prime's audio processors, making him flinch, and boiling up his anger further. Mirage noticed how quiet Optimus was, and chuckled. "Would you like to take care of this one, boss?"<p>

"Yes, I would. Mirage, you and Bumblebee help the humans." Optimus said roughly. Edging closer to the Decepticon in his vehicle mode, Optimus finally transformed. His faceplate slid over his face, and he took a fighting stance, Energon blades unsheathed. "Very daring of you, Thundercracker, to attack this place alone."

"Would you prefer I'd brought more Decepticons?" Thundercracker retorted casually, and stopped juggling his little toys. "Come now, Optimus. We all have to have a little bit of fun sometimes."

"Well you chose the wrong time to have your fun." Prime charged forward at his target, ready to lob the Seeker's head off, when a painful tingling feeling overcame his systems, and everything faded into blackness.

* * *

><p>Nicole and Annabelle had no trouble finding where the action was. This "Thundercracker" was so obnoxiously wide with the wings on his back that when they saw him they parked and got out to watch from a block away.<p>

"Prime'll kick his ass. He saved my life yesterday, you know." Nicole told Annabelle, boasting slightly.  
>"Totally. I heard plenty of stories from my dad about how much of a badass he is. I bet he'll rip this guy's head right off and take his spine with it." Annabelle bounced impatiently. They could hear Optimus and Thundercracker's little bit of banter from where they were, along with Bumblebee and someone else that they didn't know trying to take care of the civilians.<p>

"Oh! Oh!" Annabelle nudged Nicole with her elbow, "He's going in for the kill!"  
>"Yes! Sweet! Get him Prime! TEAR HIS HEAD OFF!" She cried out as he ran forward, but when he froze mid-step, a chill ran down her back.<br>"What the hell-" The two girls said in unison.  
>"Oh God, Oh God, this is bad! What happened?" Nicole whispered, eyes wide. A pain like a gunshot hit her straight in the chest. "OPTIMUS!"<br>"Thundercracker's going to kill him! Where's Bumblebee? BUMBLEBEE! Shit, shit, shit." 

* * *

><p>White light flashed through the darkness that had overcome Prime's vision, a deep rumbling filled his audio processors, and hardly distinguishable images of his fallen comrades seemed to pass before him at incredible speed. His spark filled with a horrible pain at the sight of them, all dead, but just as quickly as the images showed up, they disappeared before he could properly deal with what was happening, they were replaced by something else.<p>

A single massive silhouette, staring straight at him. It growled something he couldn't understand, and vanished.


	6. Chapter 6

**Once again, I'm taking any and all suggestions for characters you want to see!  
>C'mon now, don't be shy! Really!<br>Feedback, character suggestions, anything is welcome. I'd love to know what my readers think.**

The ever quick to respond Bumblebee perked up as he heard his name being shouted by one of the only two creatures that would logically be calling out to him. Completely tossing aside what he was doing, the young Autobot transformed and sped off towards the girls. He found them ten blocks away, Nicole on her knees, and Annabelle feverishly waving her arms to the left. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He turned into the next street like Annabelle had signaled, found Optimus frozen, and Thundercracker about to go in for the kill. Letting out a cry, it signaled for Mirage to come and assist him. Now.

Transforming into his Stealth Force mode, Bumblebee opened fire on the Decepticon in a desperate attempt to lead him away from their leader, but Thundercracker didn't buy it. Drifting around Prime's feet, Bumblebee slid to a stop before him, and transformed back. Faceplate snapping into place with a simple flick of his neck, his arm shifted into his typical cannon, and his shoulder mounts emerged from his back. Taking a crouching stance, his radio crackled on.

"Not today...Thunder...Cracker"

The Decepticon chuckled to himself, "You little insect, you think you can stop me singlehandedly? Me? The new Decepticon leader?" He roared. Bumblebee's audio receptors perked up in surprise, though it only made sense that someone new would've taken over. Megatron and Starscream were done for good this time, and Thundercracker had always been the 'third in line' for the position. Thundercracker opened fire on Bumblebee, who-being much smaller than the Seeker- managed to roll out of the way fairly easily. But Optimus was still in danger. Where was Mirage?

The bright red Ferrari was following Bumblebee's signal down the demolished street when he came across the girls as well. Pulling up along the curb next to them, before he could say anything, Nicole spoke up. Still on the ground, she gasped loudly first. The pain in her chest added onto that of her ribs was making it harder and harder to breathe every moment. "You have to...Get Thundercracker out of here. Something is very wrong...with Optimus."  
>"Got it, girlie," Mirage replied, and sped off loudly to provide assistance.<p>

Annabelle knelt down next to Nicole, her eyes huge with worry. "Are you alright, Nicole? What happened?"  
>"I broke or cracked two ribs yesterday when Barricade attacked me. And-and now I-I feel like I've been shot in the chest." She rasped, her hands clung tightly to her chest. "I don't know w-what's going on."<br>"L-let's go back to the car then. You shouldn't be out here in this condition."  
>"No! I'm not leaving until Optimus is safe. He-He saved me, the least I can do is stick around until he's brought out of harms way too." Taking Annabelle's offered hand, the two rose, and continued to watch the scene just a short ways away.<p>

Mirage and Bee were both attempting to get Thundercracker to back off, Bee with all the cannons at his disposal ready to fire, and Mirage encircling the Decepticon with five holograms of himself.  
>"Leave now, and we spare you," Mirage growled. Bumblebee emphasized his ally's statement with a little chirp, and his cannons began to glow with energy, ready to fire. "Your fun...is over. Leave!"<p>

Thundercracker grunted loudly to himself. He _was_a bit out numbered here, though it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He could've easily torn these two Autobots limb from limb by now. But something was keeping him from doing it. Perhaps it was the possibility that Optimus could end up breaking out of his paralyzed state any moment now and annihilate him. He knew how ruthless the Autobot leader had become, here on Earth. He showed no mercy for the Decepticons. Not that they needed it anyway.

But perhaps it _would_ be best to depart for now.

The Seeker glared at his two opponents for a long time. "You'll be seeing me again, Autobot scum, and _next time your precious leader won't be here to protect you._" Using the thrusters on his back, Thundercracker lifted off the ground, transformed into his alternate mode, and flew off with a ground shaking, near sonic, boom.

The moment the area was clear, the girls cautiously approached, waiting to be reprimanded by either Bumblebee or Mirage. But the two said nothing to them. In fact, it was Ratchet, who had just pulled up to the scene, who let them have it. "Nicole! Annabelle! What is your malfunction? Optimus specifically told you two to stay with me in the shop! Sneaking away like that could've been dangerou-" He was shut up by Bumblebee giving his hood a sharp tap, and nearly dragging the medic-bot to where Optimus stood frozen, his optics dark.

"Primus Almighty! What happened here?" Ratchet asked.  
>Nicole stared up at the Autobot leader. "He was about to take on Thundercracker when...this just happened. He hasn't moved an inch."<br>"What could've possibly happened, Ratchet?" Annabelle asked.  
>"I-I'm not sure. This is a new occurrence to me." He began scanning Optimus for any problems, and as it was about to finish, his optics lit up.<p>

"Optimus!" Nicole cried out, and he let out a groan. His Energon blades retracted, and he dropped to the ground, holding his head. "Optimus! What happened?"  
>"I-I don't know, I-Wait." He looked at Nicole from between his fingers and his eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here? I told you to-"<p>

She really was just like her father. A walking magnet for trouble. The two of them could never just do what they were told and stay behind. They needed to be a part of the Autobots fight. That was why Optimus considered Sam such a close friend, and why he had made a promise to his friend-one that Sam would hopefully never learn of- that he would protect his daughter. Optimus almost didn't want to scold the girl for coming here, but it was necessary.

"I know, I know, but before you say anything else, Bumblebee and..." She glanced over at Mirage, who responded quickly with his name. "-Mirage wouldn't have known something was wrong with you if we weren't here! So don't give me that. We saved your life." Nicole noticed the worry that glowed in Prime's eyes, hidden away by a false anger towards her. Staring into those massive blue eyes, she approached him, mesmerized, and put her hands on one of his fingers. "B-But that's all that matters. That you're safe. Come now, let's go back to the shop-" She turned to face Ratchet, Bee, and Mirage, "All of us."

A fire spread through the Autobot leader when Nicole put her hands on him. It startled him initially, but left him curious once it faded from his systems. Staring at her, eyes wide, for a few brief seconds, he gave the slightest nod at her idea to go back to the shop and transformed. Allowing Nicole to climb inside, Annabelle went with Ratchet, and Bumblebee and Mirage took point to go back to their home. Optimus and Nicole didn't say a word to each other the entire way back. However, Annabelle and Ratchet were keeping one another quite occupied. She asked the medic bot all sorts of questions, like how the Cybertronians were powered, what their weaponry was made of, why he chose to be a medic, and everything else in between. The others could hear their conversation clearly, seeing as how Ratchet forgot to shut off his part of the team communications link. Nicole chuckled to herself, amused by how well they suddenly seemed to click together. That was good though, because from just the brief conversation she had with Ratchet, Nicole could tell he liked company, but didn't get it often enough.

The six of them arrived at the garage twenty minutes later, with Prime and Nicole arriving last. Hopping out of the Peterbilt, she approached Annabelle. "Where are you staying tonight? I'm sure you don't exactly live right in the city, do you?"  
>Annabelle grinned, "No, I don't actually. Were you offering for me to stay at your place?"<br>"Yes, I was. But I'm not exactly planning on going home yet, so if you'd like to keep talking with Ratchet some more, you can go ahead."  
>Annabelle's eyes grew huge. "Ohmygod, could you hear us talking?"<br>"Every last word," Nicole giggled. "Just be back here in a couple hours. Now you kids have fun." Annabelle, blushing furiously, swatted Nicole on the arm, and walked off to where Ratchet waited in the parking lot.

Butterflies anxiously fluttered in Nicole's stomach as she started back towards Optimus. Her brain was about to burst with curiosity over him, all the questions, all the details she wanted to know. The reasons for the pain behind those eyes of his.

"Optimus, let's go out to the yard. There's more room for you there," She said quietly.  
>"Oh, alright," He replied, his tone confused.<br>Hitching a little ride on the hood of the Peterbilt, he exited the parking lot, and drove around to the back of the shop, where a gate into the yard waited. Pushing through, he found a nice empty corner, situated himself, allowed Nicole to hop off, and transformed.  
>"Nicole, you look like you really need to say something. What is it?"<br>She sat on the ground before him, and stared up at the 'Bot. "Who _are _you?"  
>"You know who I am, Nicole-"<br>"No. That isn't what I meant. Who are you in here?" She tapped herself on the chest with a closed fist. "In your heart?"  
>His eyes widened, and he reeled back slightly. "W-what do you mean?"<br>"I can sense something within you that you try desperately to hide, Optimus. Tell me _who you are._"

Optimus was truly caught off guard for once in his long, long life. He stared at her in silence once more, before looking away.

"On Cybertron, I was originally nothing more than the leader of the planets Science Division, which covered our history, technology, and biology. We were also in charge of an object, the All Spark. It was a powerful relic of our people. It could create _life._And with its power, my mentor, Sentinel Prime, my brother Megatron, and I harnessed a star for Cybertron to orbit, which was supposed to help with our energy needs. Cybertron became a united front from our act, but there was no one to lead us. Sentinel did not want the job, and because of it, he revealed to me that I was a Prime. A Cybertronian of the highest order, created specifically to rule over our race. He wanted me to take over the role, but I wanted none of it. Megatron became jealous of this, because he found me unfit to rule, and as a compromise, we ruled the planet together.

We often-very often-came to disagreements on what was best for our race. I ruled fairly, while he was more firm, and ruthless. Rebellions arose, and through them, Megatron forced me to give him complete ruling power to quell them. This, of course was a terrible mistake on my part. I let him intimidate me into giving up my power."

He glanced at Nicole for a moment, to find her watching him intently, taking in all of his words, and respectfully keeping her thoughts to herself. He was actually surprised, because he expected a million interruptions by now.

"One cycle, our planet was attacked by aliens, who wrecked the planet, leaving us crippled. Megatron began to rally his troops to fight back, and ordered me to do the same with those I commanded in the Science Division. But I refused. We were protectors, not soldiers like those under him. I convinced my people to stand by me and refuse to fight. The planet was being split in half, some on his side, some on mine. That is how the war began. From pitiful jealousy. I watched dear comrades of mine fall at the Decepticon's hands, including-I believed at the time- Sentinel Prime.

The All Spark had been lost to the stars because of the war, and because the Autobots were losing it, we had to leave Cybertron as well."

Nicole finally found a spot to speak up. "How did you arrive here on Earth?"

"We followed Megatron here. He sought the All Spark for his army, and had tracked it here. And in turn, we tracked him. Bumblebee was the first to arrive, and found your father, who in turn had a connection to Megatron through your ancestor, Archibald Witwicky, who discovered a frozen Megatron up in the polar regions of the planet. Archibald had cybertronian coordinates imprinted on his glasses through Megatron's navigation systems, which we desperately needed to find before the Decepticons did. After a long search, we found the All Spark, but it was quickly lost during the battle of Mission City, when your father bravely pressed the All Spark into Megatron's chest, killing him, and leaving a fragment of the All Spark behind. But all wasn't finished yet. There were still other Decepticons to take care of. With the governments help, the military and the Autobots formed an alliance called NEST, whose purpose was to rid the planet of the remaining Decepticons. With their immense skill, they managed to steal the All Spark fragment, and used it to resurrect Megatron.  
>He kidnapped your father in an attempt to gain information from him, but we managed to rescue him, and as Bumblebee and I tried to get him to safety, I was attacked by Starscream, Megatron's second in command, and soon afterwards, Megatron himself and another one of his soldiers. I shielded your father from them, but as a result, I was killed. Stabbed through the chest with my own sword, and shot."<p>

Nicole's eyes grew progressively wider as his story went on, and she clutched her hands together by her chest as another pain arose. She couldn't take it anymore. "P-please, no more for now. This-This must be hard for you. We'll leave the rest for another night." Optimus looked down at her and tilted his head to the side. "If you are sure, Nicole."  
>"I'm sure. But I have one more question. What happened today in the city?"<p>

His eyes narrowed, "You told me earlier today that you were having visions. Visions from my perspective, yes?"  
>"Yes."<br>"Well, what I had seemed to be a vision as well. But I cannot seem to decipher what it meant..."  
>"So you have no idea what you saw?"<br>"Not entirely, no. I believe I'd have to talk to Ratchet about it, when he gets back."  
>Nicole paused, then pulled her clasped hands away from her chest. It was her turn to talk now. "When you froze up back there, a horrible pain erupted inside me. Like I'd been shot. And when I was in school today, I noticed something had appeared in the spot where you had accidentally shocked me on my hand."<br>"Something?"  
>She glanced at her palm, then back up at him, then shrugged. "A symbol. Do you...Do you know what it means?" Raising her hand, she turned it palm up, where a strange mark lay drawn into her skin.<p>

Optimus brought himself closer to her little hand to see this symbol, then gasped.

"N-Nicole, this is Cybertronian. It means 'Connected'."


	7. Chapter 7

"Nicole, why do you have Cybertronian on your hand?" Optimus was shocked. Gently scooping her up off of the ground, he held her closer to his face to see her better. His processors raced as he tried to figure out how this was possible, but couldn't come to any conclusions. Nicole began to tremble and her eyes were huge. She was wondering the exact same thing as he was, but couldn't understand if this marking on her hand could also have some bad connotation behind it.

"I-How am I supposed to know? I told you, it just appeared on my hand yesterday!" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't see what the problem is though, if-if it just means 'Connected'..." Nicole paused, and looked from the mark, to Optimus. "Is there something _you're _not telling me? Like how did you know where I was yesterday?"

"Well, how can I put this...When we arrived here on Earth, and found out about your father's connection to Megatron, we knew that he would need one of our soldiers to be with him, to protect him from the Decepticons at all times. Bumblebee became your fathers guardian, and protected him with his own life. From the battle of Mission City, to the final battle against Sentinel Prime, Bumblebee always made sure that your father made it out alive. When you were born, and your parents both agreed that it would be best for us to have nothing to do with your life, it tore my spark in half. Seeing the tiny little creature that you were, just newly brought into this world, it pained me. Because I knew that this war that was-and still is- unwanted by your planet wasn't going to leave you out of it just because that was what your parents wanted." His bright blue optics dimmed slightly, and Nicole noticed the pain behind them again. It tore him up inside, knowing that he was disobeying her parents wishes. His intentions were all for the best, but her parents more than likely wouldn't tolerate it.

He lowered his voice, "Nicole, I knew as soon as I saw your tiny infant body, eighteen years ago, that I had to be the one to protect you from the Decepticons. I had to become your guardian."

"Optimus...I knew there was something behind that tough exterior of yours."  
>He adverted his eyes, "I apologize. I am ashamed of myself."<br>"Don't be ashamed. There is no reason to feel ashamed. I owe you my life." She pressed her hand against his chin plates. "We need to take care of this pain you are feeling. Come with me, to see my parents again."

"Nicole, I cannot do that, I promised-"  
>"Well it's too late for that now." She raised her right hand to him, the one with the marking. "We're connected. I don't know how, but I won't stand by and let you feel such guilt for my parents being unreasonable. C'mon, contact Ratchet and see where he and Annabelle are. We're going home."<p>

He sighed and set Nicole back down on the ground. "Ratchet, report back to the autoshop with Annabelle. Nicole has decided it's time we visit her parents again."  
>"Sir? Are you sure?"<br>"Yes."

He transformed but his parts reacted slowly. His reluctance was unbelievably clear, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse Nicole wanting him to speak to her father. They would be furious, he knew that. But...what else could possibly happen, now that he thought about it? The pair made their way back to the front of the shop, and didn't have to wait long before Ratchet and Annabelle arrived, and Bumblebee not too far behind them.

"I'm coming too!" The young 'Bot chirped and seemed to squirm in his vehicle mode.  
>"...Fine, Bumblebee," Optimus sighed. "Let's get going."<p>

The trio of Autobots departed for the Witwicky house, and within a matter of fifteen minutes, came across the neighborhood where the family had taken up residence. "Are you sure we should do this, Nicole?"  
>"Yes, I'm sure."<br>"...Very well."  
>Arriving at the house, Bumblebee pulled into the driveway and immediately shut off his engines. Ratchet and Optimus parked alongside the curb, and did the same. Nicole hopped out of the Peterbilt, prompting Annabelle to exit her vehicle, and they entered the house.<p>

"Mom? Dad? Can you come here please?" She called out to them.  
>"What is it Nicole?" Her father called back from in the living room. "You know you're late, don't you?"<br>"Yeah, but I think I have a pretty good reason as to why. Now can you and mom _come here?_"  
>Sam let out an annoyed grunt as he stood, and loudly set down his bottle of beer. Carly was less quiet, and rose without much complaining, and walked with her husband to see their daughter. She tilted her head head to the side upon seeing another girl with her, and smiled warmly.<br>"And who is this?" She asked Annabelle, who returned the gesture.

"This is Annabelle. Annabelle Lennox." Nicole said, and crossed her arms. She noticed her father's eyes widen just slightly, something she expected. In fact, she wanted that reaction. Her mother gasped, though it was an inaudible one, Nicole noticed that as well.

"Uh...N-Nice to meet you, Annabelle, where are you from?" Sam asked, but the girl's smile turned to a smirk. "I think you know where I'm from, Mister Witwicky."  
>"I-I don't believe we've ever met before, Annabelle," Carly said softly.<br>"Are you sure, mom? Then I guess you'll be saying next that you haven't met _them_ before _either._" She swung the door open to reveal the three Autobots that waited outside. "I'm sure Scott and Colton would like to see this too, now wouldn't they? SCOTT, COLTON, GET DOWN HERE." The twins thundered down the stairs, and nearly collided into her at the bottom. Colton was the first to notice what lay waiting outside, and gasped. They were real! The creatures that haunted his dreams since he was young! They really existed!

"Dad, one of them would like to talk to you. I suggest you do it." She tugged at her father's wrist, and forced him outside, though of course not without great resistance on his part. The two stopped once they reached Optimus, and Nicole backed off. "Talk to him."  
>Sam's anger boiled over at this point. Being ordered around by his own daughter! "Nicole, you listen here, you are not going to <em>order me around, do you understand?<em>"  
>"Just do what I ask you for <em>once, <em>dad. Optimus really needs to talk to you." A feeling began to form in the lowest pit of her stomach that this was just going to end a lot worse than she had hoped. But that's something you'd just have to expect when you had a habit of not thinking things through like she did. "Please."

Sam stared at her through narrowed eyes for a few long moments, before turning to the Peterbilt. "Optimus, explain to me why you broke your promise."  
>"I never meant to disobey your wishes, Sam. But you've forgotten how our war worked, even when you were your daughters age. The Decepticons hunted you down, because they knew you had a connection to us, and in turn they would do the same to your daughter. I've been watching over Nicole ever since she started going out into the world, to prevent them from finding her, and up until recently, they never had."<br>"Recently? Nicole, is there something you need to tell me?" Sam looked back at his eldest child, who didn't reply. It wasn't her time to talk.  
>"Yesterday evening, I encountered Barricade trying to attack Nicole as she tried to find her car. Luckily for her, I was nearby."<br>"_Barricade?_ Son of a bitch, why is it always him first?" Sam growled to himself. "What were you doing yesterday that caused you to _lose track of your car_, Nicole? How many times do I need to remind you to be careful when you're in the city? You wonder why we get so mad at what you do, but it's only because you're so damned _careless!_"

"Dad, I was FINE!"  
>"Nicole..." Optimus said softly, "Do not lie to your father."<br>She could feel everyone's eyes on her now, and she shrank into herself awkwardly. Normally she'd be strong, and put up a front, but just the way Optimus spoke to her just now sent her wall crashing. A hand touched her shoulder, startling her to the point that she nearly fell over. But when she turned to look who it was, it was merely Annabelle, come forth to provide a bit more support for her new friend.  
>"Barricade broke two of my ribs. But I'm <em>fine, <em>because there's nothing that can be done about them." Nicole explained simply, and narrowed her eyes. "But this isn't the point, and I can see Optimus won't tell you what I thought he would say when I brought them here."

"And why DID you bring them here, Nicole? To embarrass me in front of the rest of the family?" Sam growled. "I've had enough of your attitude, and I don't care about what Optimus needs to say. He betrayed me by not following through with his promise and leaving us alone, and that's final. I don't want you to have anything to do with them, Nicole, and I'm forbidding you from going anywhere other than school for the next two months."

His words hit her like a train, and her legs gave out immediately. "You can't do that!"  
>"OH YES I CAN," Sam snapped, "Get up right now and get in the house."<br>"But I have work to do at the shop!"  
>"I don't care! You'll just have to call all of your clients and tell them what's going on."<br>"_I_ _need that money!"_  
>"WHAT DOES 'I DON'T CARE' MEAN, NICOLE? GET IN THE FUCKING HOUSE."<p>

Nicole desperately looked at Annabelle, then back at her father. "What about Annabelle?"  
>"RATCHET," Sam barked, "Drive the girl home." The Medic-Bot remained silent, but he acknowledged Sam's order with a simple flash of his headlights. The two girls looked at each other, and tears began to well in Nicole's eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Annabelle, that you had to see this."<br>"It's alright, don't worry about it. Text me if you need to talk," she slipped her a little torn piece of paper, which Nicole immediately put away in her pocket. "See ya, I hope." Leaving for the Hummer, the two of them departed as soon as Annabelle was situated inside the truck.

"Nicole," Optimus began gently, "I told you this would not end well. I am sorry for causing all of this. I should have known better and stood firm and refused to come here."  
>"Optimus..." She began to tremble, terrified of what else her father would say once they got back inside, where the whole neighborhood wouldn't be able to hear them. "Don't take the blame, please. Your heart is already torn enough."<p>

"Until next time, Nicole." His voice was barely a whisper, and it sent Nicole shattering like glass. "If there is a next time."


	8. Chapter 8

Nicole stood awkwardly in front of her locker at school, simply staring. She was a wreck today, her hair barely done, eyes sunken in, wearing baggy black sweatpants and a slightly over sized T-shirt. Clutching her math book close to her chest, she slowly began to turn so that she could shuffle on to her next class when one of her friends attempted to launch herself onto her back. Tumbling forward, Nicole's book and her purse with all its contents crashed to the ground. "Cassie!" She hissed, and knelt down to scoop up her belongings. "What the hell!"  
>Cassandra instantly rushed to her side and began helping her, "Oh my god oh my god I'm so sorry Nicole! I thought you heard me call your name from down the hall!"<br>"No I didn't hear you call my damn name, Cassie!" Nicole replied through clenched teeth, and swiped her phone from Cassie's hands. She stared at Nicole for a few seconds, and tilted her head to the side curiously. "Wow, you look like crap today. Did something happen yesterday?" Nicole's eyes grew huge, and she rushed to shove the rest of her belongings into her bag. "N-no, nothing happened. Don't worry about it. I just-just couldn't sleep well last night."

Her friend could see right through her words. Clearly she was lying, and it hurt knowing that she was being lied to, but Cassie persisted, and followed her friend as she got back up to head for class. Chattering frantically, her words were ignored, the throbbing pain in Nicole's head taking precedence. She didn't want to be here, she didn't want her friend down her throat for how awful she knew she looked, and she sure as hell didn't want to go home. The moment she had woken up this morning, the pain in her head began, and despite the extra strength pills she'd taken, nothing would make it go away. Upon finally arriving at her classroom, Nicole stopped, and glared darkly at her friend. "I'm going to class. Please, just leave me alone right now. I don't feel well, and I don't want to be here, but I have no other choice." The Witwicky girl said rather coldly, but she could see that her red-headed friend didn't take her words too personally. Cassie simply nodded, and despite the frown on her face, gave her a reassuring hug. "Call me when you feel better."

Dragging herself into the classroom, she slid into her seat, and slammed her head against the hard surface of her desk. The pain of the impact didn't phase her, not in the slightest. And even then, it was still better than listening to her teacher talk. Drifting in and out of attention for what was going on, all that she could really think about was her strong desire to go home, and sleep. When her name was called for a question, she snapped up from her half laying position, and narrowed her eyes at how bright the lights in the classroom seemed.

"What," She grumbled and glared at the forty-something year old man that stood at the projection board at the front of the room.  
>"I asked you what the answer was, Nicole. Stop sleeping and pay attention."<br>"I wasn't sleeping," She replied coldly, and rested her chin back on her desk. Already some of her classmates were watching her.  
>"Then why was your head down?"<br>"_I WASN'T SLEEPING," _Nicole snapped at him, "even though I'd _much _rather be sleeping then listen to you talk for an entire fifty-fucking-minutes." Scooping her book off the desk, she hefted up her purse, tore her homework assignment out from between the pages of the math book and stormed to the front of the class. Roughly shoving her work in his face, she stomped out without another word.

* * *

><p>Optimus returned to the autoshop after a quick patrol around the city to make sure Barricade still wasn't taking refuge too close by. With a sharp hiss, he pulled into the yard alongside Ratchet, who was idly shifting through radio stations, trying to find something interesting to keep him occupied. "How was the patrol, Optimus?" Ratchet ventured. The Autobot leader hadn't spoken much today, so Ratchet wasn't too sure what was going on, but he tried to remain somewhat friendly in hopes that it would encourage Optimus to finally speak again. There was a long silence between them, before Optimus finally spoke. He had noticed that Bumblebee and Mirage weren't in the yard with the Medic-Bot. He sensed their location almost immediately, but decided he would ask his trusted friend where they went anyway.<br>"Ratchet," he said darkly,"Where have Bumblebee and Mirage gone?"  
>"I believe they went for a simple drive, nothing more."<br>Prime's engine seemed to let out a growl, one that could easily be perceived as annoyed. "The Decepticon threat has resurfaced, and those two are leaving without my authorization?"  
>Ratchet turned slightly towards his leader, "I believed it would be a simple, harmless joy ride. If they run into any danger, surely they can handle it."<br>"When was it ever the time to allow the youngest, and the most aggressive of our soldiers do whatever they pleased, Ratchet?"  
>"Optimus I-"<br>"Quiet, Ratchet. I do not want to hear anything further about your negligence. I will go get them and bring them back here." With a roar of his engines, the Autobot leader departed angrily, leaving Ratchet shocked. Optimus seemed very off today, but he didn't see anything wrong with his leaders systems. What was the problem?

The blue and red Peterbilt shot through the streets at a surprising speed. He still took caution when it came to the human drivers that were around him, but he maneuvered the streets almost flawlessly, fueled by anger for his subordinates. It was not time to play, it was time to remain together, and contact the human's government with the information they had gathered regarding the Decepticon's reemergence. The Autobots were already few in numbers as it was, not to mentioned scattered so widely across this planet. With NEST having been decommissioned a few cycles after the destruction of Chicago, they could not so easily be deployed to areas of need. With a loud squeal, Optimus turned sharply off the highway he'd been driving on, to the nearest exit leading to his two soldiers.

This phenomenon of anger towards his own troops had risen into the Autobot leader without his knowledge, like a virus that had begun to infect his systems only overnight. He was still the rational Prime that he always was, but it seemed like his fuse grew exponentially shorter. Cutting his locator signal from the rest of the Autobots, to ensure surprise when he found Bumblebee and Mirage, he continued on towards them. Thankfully, there were very few human vehicles on this road, ensuring that his terrestrial guise wouldn't be caught going more than the restricted speed limit that vehicles of this sort could go.

* * *

><p>Nicole stormed through the hallways of the school towards the part of the building where her car lay waiting outside. Each step was more like she was trying to stomp the floor to death. She didn't know what was going on with her, but she sure didn't like it. Her insides felt as if they were boiling with the rage that was inside of her. It wasn't <em>hormones <em>that was causing this, and she knew that for sure, so...what? She realized that she was still carrying her obnoxiously heavy math book, grabbed it by the spine, and flung it as hard as she could into the lockers that stood innocently by. It impacted with a satisfying metallic clang, and left a nice sized dent in one of them. Making her way outside to where her car waited for her, she stabbed her fingers into the buttons that lay on the drivers side door, and once the code was entered opened with a nice little pop. Taking a seat, she slammed the door, started the car, and sped away from the school.

It didn't take long for the eldest of the Witwicky children to arrive at their home, only to find no one there. And that was exactly how she wanted it. Walking inside, she scooped her cat up off his sunning spot on the floor, and walked upstairs to her room. It was a tomboyish room, despite the fact that the walls were painted pink. A superhero movie poster was stuck up here or there, a few model cars sat at her computer desk, a few band posters were up as well, and stuffed animals normally would have been neatly arranged upon her bed. But everything was a mess today. Bed sheets were tossed about, a pillow all the way across the room, her stuffed animals looked as though they'd been a part of an explosion. There was writing on her walls, done in simple washable marker, all in Cybertronian. She'd stayed up the entire night, with these images flashing into her mind, and a force just compelling her to write down the symbols. The largest of her late night graffiti lay behind her bedroom door, done in black, was the symbol on her hand. She tried washing it off, and to no avail. Thankfully her father hadn't noticed it yet, but surely enough he would at some point. He noticed everything.

Holding her warm slightly fat cat close, Nicole flopped onto her bed. He didn't try to struggle away from her.

"Butterscotch, why is this happening?" She asked him softly, "I didn't ask for this...I didn't ask for all this buildup in my stupid head. I mean, seriously, look at what I've done to my own room. If mom or dad come in here and see this, they'll lock me up in here until I'm thirty." The orange and white tabby cat of course didn't reply, simply stared at her through his huge green eyes. Scratching him behind the ear, Nicole stared up at the ceiling. "I think I miss him already...Heh...How ridiculous. I've barely known him, and I miss him already...Aren't I pathetic?" Tears crept into her eyes, tears she didn't want. Letting go of Butterscotch, the free cat jumped off of her stomach, and curled up next to her, allowing her space to lay on her opposite site. Clutching her knees close to her chest, Nicole would have begun to cry when she heard the front door open downstairs. Her heart nearly stopped, but when her mother's voice called for her, she exhaled loudly and called back to her. The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs made her heart almost stop once more. At this rate, she'd just die from nervousness.

Her mother poked her head into the door, looking worried. "Oh my, Nikki dear you look awful," she purred in her ever present British accent. It took a moment for her to notice the condition of her daughter's bedroom. "Wh-What is all this?" She asked softly, eyes wide now. Nicole tried to shrink into herself out of pure shame. "D-don't tell dad...please..." She whimpered.  
>Carly's surprised look softened almost instantly, and she sat down on the edge of Nicole's bed. "I promise. Now can you explain to me what happened here?"<p>

"I don't know...All last night after the fight, I kept seeing these symbols, and something just seemed to tell me that I needed to write them down, maybe to try and get them to go away...And..."  
>"And?"<br>"One of the symbols...I don't know how, I don't know why, but it's on my hand..."  
>"On your hand? Like you drew it there?"<br>"Like it appeared there by itself and won't come off."

Nicole took her hand and showed it to her mother, who took it, and gave the symbol a little scratch with her finger. "It seems it won't. That's very strange..." Carly ventured further with trying to get information from her child. "Did Optimus see this?" Nicole nodded. "Did he say what it means?" She flinched, and quickly decided it would be best not to tell her mother what it meant. "No, he said it was...the language of the ancients, or something...I don't really remember."

Carly knew she was lying immediately, but decided to let Nicole be. Giving her eldest child a quick comforting rub on the back, she smiled. "Don't worry, dear. I won't tell your father about this little talk. Just get some rest. I'll come get you later, when dinner's ready."

"Okay..."

* * *

><p>He almost had them now. The Autobot pair was just barely out of his reach, prompting him to push his engines further. The Peterbilt was going nearly one hundred and ten miles per hour, far exceeding anything was remotely legal, or safe for semi trucks to go. But like he had noticed earlier, the road was nearly empty, now save for him and Bumblebee and Mirage. An opening was approaching, an intersection not too far ahead now. Optimus scanned ahead for traffic, and once again, found none. What a strange road. But that wasn't nearly his concern now. Roaring down the road, he was only thirty feet behind the pair now. It didn't seem like they had noticed him yet. Optimus had all of his location broadcasting signals deactivated specifically for this. Blaring his horn at them, both cars swerved sharply and nearly collided before regaining themselves. Tires screeching to slow down, he passed the two cars, twisted around and transformed furiously out of his terrestrial mode.<p>

His feet screamed as they dragged across the pavement as Optimus slid backwards. Grabbing Bumblebee and Mirage by the hoods of their other forms, his bright blue optics narrowed into very thin slits, and if he could give any more facial expression than a very, very slight frown, he would have. "What is your malfunction? Both of you? What has my order always been when the Decepticons have resurfaced?" His words were sharp and stern, and actually seemed to startle the two of them enough for them to kill their engines completely. Bumblebee let out a tiny little whimper, but it only made Optimus even angrier. Digging his fingers into Bumblebee's hood, the metal caved in just slightly and caused the young Autobot to squeal in pain.

"Optimus!" Mirage shouted, engine roaring to life again. Shoving against the Autobot leader with everything he had, Mirage managed to get him to release his grip on Bumblebee. The yellow Camaro quickly started back up again, and inched backwards away from the two, still whining in shocked pain. It of course was nothing compared to past wounds, but Bee never expected Prime to do anything like that.

Mirage wasted no time transforming and standing tall between his leader and the young 'bot. "Slag it, Prime, what are you doing? Hurting Bumblebee? What is _your _malfunction?" The blades on his arms glistened brightly in the sun, ready to defend his comrade, but there was that slight tug of caution. Would he really have to fight his leader?


	9. Chapter 9

A single, massive hangar sat alone in the humid continent of Africa. Rubble surrounded the building, the remnants of what used to be a village, now stamped into the dirt by what else but Decepticon feet. They had taken refuge in this makeshift base ages ago, and had no plans on leaving it just yet. Though it was rather small, enough so that some of the Decepticons had to remain in their terrestrial modes to simply fit inside, it served its purpose. Thundercracker sat back against one of the warehouse walls, his wings scraped loudly against the metal. A curious look seemed to burn in his blood red optics. The new Decepticon leader was deep in thought about what had happened to Optimus a few solar cycles back in the city, where the Autobot simply froze up. What could cause such a thing? He could not come to any sort of conclusions, so he addressed his nearest soldier, one left behind by their master Soundwave. Buzzsaw. The birdlike creature sat perched on a piece of machinery just an arms length away from Thundercracker, waiting for orders.

"Buzzsaw," he growled, "I finally have a job for you." The recon bot twitched slightly, and tilted his head to face his leader. "Yes, lord Thundercracker?"

A smile formed on the Seeker's face, one that always showed up whenever he was called _Lord_. Sure it did not have the same ring to it that _Lord Megatron _did. But he still liked how it sounded. Tapping his long fingers against one of the plates on his leg, Thundercracker faded back into thought. A few troops loudly rolled into the hangar, returning from their own scouting missions, namely Dirge, Trample, Tread, and Thrust. They all had nothing to report as they had not gone directly towards their leader, and were soon off to their own devices. Thrust, hated by Thundercracker surprisingly more than he disliked Skywarp, shuffled past while mumbling to himself in low Cybertronian. Something about how irritated he was with the fact that they were losing so badly. Thundercracker's eyes flashed bright, and he snapped out of his processes to readdress Buzzsaw, and Thrust as well.

"You will have your fun in due time. All of you." Turning to face the birdlike creature next to him, he said quietly. "I need you to locate the Autobots. They are somewhere in the general vicinity of my location yesterday. Collect as much information as you can, and most importantly. Watch. Optimus. Closely."

"Yes my lord," Buzzsaw didn't waste a second and spread his wings wide, and shot out of the hangar.

Out of the corner of his sight, Thundercracker noticed something small shuffling slowly towards him. His razor sharp teeth glistened in the dim light of their makeshift base. "So you have heard the news then? That we have found the Autobots once again? Isn't it just _wonderful?"_

Taking position at his foot was a tiny, frail little figure, horribly malnourished and covered in grime.

"Y-yes, it is wonderful." Mikaela Banes said softly.

* * *

><p>A new figure came to the door a few long hours after her mother had left her upstairs to her own devices. Nicole was laying on her stomach now on her bed, watching videos on the holographic screen that her keyboard projected for her. Some things hadn't advanced much from when Sam was her age, though others he couldn't help but be somewhat amazed by. Such as how what once needed an entire tower for all of its chips and drives, now only fit inside a single keyboard set. Idly typing away, it took Nicole a moment before she noticed her brother Colton standing there waiting.<p>

It wasn't too hard to figure out who was who with her twin brothers. When they were all younger, it was a massive problem. But now, it was easy as pie. Colton was scrawnier than Scott, not at all athletic. He was the nerdy one of the family. It was perfectly fine, except since they were kids, he'd been absolutely obsessed with the stories of the Autobots they had been told. His room was littered with drawings of what he believed the Autobots would look like. And that was precisely the reason why no one went into his room.

He was nuts, but they all had no choice but to accept him for it.

"Nicole?" He asked quietly, and shuffled a few inches through the doorway.  
>"What do you want Colton." She replied coldly, attention back to her computer. She heard his socks shuffle against the carpet a bit more, meaning he was inching his way towards her further. "Can...you tell me about them?"<br>She looked sidelong at him, eyes narrowed. "About the Autobots?"  
>His face lit up slightly, "Yes, p-please."<p>

"I don't know what you want me to tell you. I've only known them for two days, and after that bull that happened last night, I've had the worst possible headache that any human can possibly endure. What else do you want me to say right now? Just leave me alone. If this shit between me and dad ever resolves itself, maybe I'll take you to meet them."

Colton's smile grew as wide as that of a child who'd gotten exactly what they wanted for Christmas. "Are you serious? You'd really do that for me? No way-I can't believe you'd do that for me."

"Not _for you._ For _me. _So that you'd leave _me_alone. Now get out of my room."

Still beaming like an idiot, he left her room just like she had told him to. Nicole never really hated her brothers. They were just annoying.

* * *

><p>If Optimus was capable of emitting a feral growl, he would have at the 'Bot that stood defiantly before him. The anger that he was so blatantly unaware of was about to boil over, and with it, came a swing from the blade that had shown up attached to his arm. Mirage raised his own blades above him in defense, and they collided with a screech. "OPTIMUS!" The bright red Autobot shouted, "SLAG IT, WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?"<br>Optimus didn't respond. His optics seemed to burn as brightly as the sun, in an indescribably primal way. In a thick, low voice, he growled out "_Out of my way, Mirage,_" in Cybertronian, which sent the bright red Autobot stumbling backwards a few steps out of pure shock alone. Taking two large steps forward, Optimus shoved past the smaller Autobot, optics still set on his target of innocent Bumblebee. He retracted his energon blade back into his arm, and brought his rifle up in its place. Bumblebee didn't move. He couldn't out of sheer horror. But he at least managed to speak.

With his own broken voice, he gasps out a single word, desperate to bring his leader, his mentor and his friend, back.  
>"Friend?" He ventured, the barrel of the rifle just feet away from his face. A few long moments passed and Bumblebee began to shake. Closing his optics, he braced himself for the worst. But it didn't come. Instead, there was the heavy metallic clang of the rifle hitting the pavement. Surprised, Bumblebee's optics snapped open to find Optimus still standing before him, staring shocked at the young Autobot before him.<br>"Oh Primus, what did I almost do?"


	10. Chapter 10

The Autobot leader collapsed to his knees, staring at his young friend gravely. "I am...I am sorry, Bumblebee. Please, I do not...I do not know what came over me." His apology was desperate, begging for forgiveness that he did not deserve.  
>The two young soldiers watched their leader carefully, sheer terror still in Bumblebee's eyes, whilst Mirage remained cautious but ready to pounce if need be, only for the sake of protecting the yellow 'Bot.<br>"It is...alright, Optimus." Bee rasped softly in his natural voice.  
>"It is far from 'alright' my friend. I have...been far from myself, therefore I should not be graced with your forgiveness." Optimus responded softly.<br>Mirage shifted uneasily on his feet and returned to his vehicle form. "Come now, you two. We should return to the shop, lest Ratchet get worried."

Prime and Bee followed Mirage's lead, transforming and beginning their way back in silence. Optimus took the rear, trailing behind the pair by quite a distance. His processors raced, desperately trying to understand. The war had molded Optimus into something far different from what he used to be on Cybertron. Nothing more than a mech of science and knowledge. And now?

He was a monster.

Scouring through his nearly endless stores of information, Optimus remembered the symbol on Nicole's hand. In the way it was written, it had much more meaning than a physical connection. ...Why hadn't he thought of this before?

Primus, was he that much of a fool? Why had he not realized it yesterday? Before he had absolutely destroyed the relationship between his Autobots and the Witwicky family?

This was something he would have to discuss with Ratchet as soon as they returned.

* * *

><p>Family dinners were always the most lively part of their time together. But all week, they had eaten their meals in silence. And all week, Nicole had been coming home early due to her skull shattering headaches.<p>

Sam, as always, sat at the head of the table, Carly directly across from him. Scott and Colton on either side of him, and Nicole by her mother. Mrs. Witwicky was always particular about seating arrangements, almost to the point of obsessing over them. But it wasn't without reason. With Sam's position, it gave him the quickest access to defend the family against a Decepticon attack. The same went for the boys, though they never knew just what exactly the plan was.

Propped on the kitchen counter was an Energon detector, one that flashed a frantic red and screeched like a banshee if a Decepticon's signature was found. It worked for Autobots in a similar fashion, but flashed blue and didnt scream. The little device sat directly in Sam's line of sight at the table. Nice and simple.

It was Carly who had decided to try and break the awkward silence at the table, directing a simple little question to her daughter. "Are you feeling better, dear?"

Nicole looked up from her plate-which she had barely touched once more- and gave a slow nod. "Yeah, a little."

Sam quirked an eyebrow at his wife. "Better? Did something happen?"

"I found her here when I came home this afternoon. Seems she left early." She gave her daughter a side glance then smiled at him. "Since she never beats us home, I could only guess she was unwell." She neglected to say that their child had been doing this

"Hm. Good point. You sure you're alright, Nicole?"

"I've been better."

"I'm going to trust that you haven't gone to see the Autobots

She flinched slightly, and although she had in fact obeyed him, was a little hurt that he had almost assumed that she wouldn't listen to him.

"I've been coming straight home...You can even check with Cas to make sure I went to school at all. She nearly broke my back in the hallway this morning." A very slight lie, seeing as that happened on Monday, but it made no difference.

The twins chuckled to themselves, resulting in a piercing glare from their older sister. Their mockery was hardly something she wanted.

Sam let out a simple 'Hmph', and resumed eating.

* * *

><p>After Annabelle had-reluctantly- been brought back to her home, she couldn't help but keep on thinking about everything that had happened on her visit to the city. Not only had she gotten to meet more of the Autobots, she'd made a new friend. The Lennox girl had always been a little on the <em>abnormal <em>side, which was made more than clear by her manner of dress. Nothing exactly matched whenever she went out, and she was always sure to wear a pair of her fathers dogtags.

She was a military child to the core, with a few little quirks thrown in.

Plopped on her bed in her little apartment, she was on a video call with her father. Despite the time that had passed since NEST was closed down, he still retained that sort of youthful air to him.

"You're sure you're alright over there, sweetheart?" He asked, always concerned for his little girl. His pride and joy. She was so grateful to have the father she did, especially seeing the sharp contrast between him, and what Samuel Witwicky had grown to become.

"Everything's fine, dad," She replied with a slight laugh. "The lead you gave me on the Autobots was perfect by the way!"  
>His smile widened, "Oh? Is that so? How're they doing?"<br>"Fairly well. I spoke with Ratchet for a while. They'd grown bored with the lack of activity until a Decepticon attacked the city."

He perked up, eyebrows raised. "Oh right, I heard about that! Caused a news chopper to crash, right?"

Belle nodded, "Yeah. Optimus, Bee and Mirage went to intervene and get him out of the city, but something happened and the 'Con ended up leaving."

"Ah. I see. Well, if y' get a chance to see them again tell them I said hi, alright?"  
>She smiled, "Sure, dad."<p>

* * *

><p>The following day, Colton and Nicole had been given the task of getting a handful of groceries for their mother. A simple task, but per his punishment, Sam had demanded that Nicole not drive. Unaware of the little pact the pair had made, he had given the boys the chore of driving her around.<p>

After successfully obtaining everything their mother wanted, and Nicole having fallen asleep in the passengers seat, Colton headed straight for the shop. Time to meet some giant robots.

The car shuttered as it worked its way through the gravel driveway up to the building, snapping her awake in a panic. Looking around quickly, eyes wide, Nicole let out a cry. "Col! What the hell are you-"  
>"Oh relax! We're just at the shop! I won't tell dad, alright? Calm down. You're gonna introduce me to your friends."<p>

"Damn it..."

The pair emerged from the car after leaving it to settle in a parking spot, and entered the main garage.

"This is an ancient glyph, Optimus. From long before you or I were created." She could hear Ratchet's gentle tone as he addressed his leader. Before the two vehicles, Optimus had drawn the symbol on her hand onto the cement beneath them. "It speaks of the most sacred and precious connection our kind can form. That of the Spark itself. Though...what brings you to ask about it?"

Optimus didn't respond, only let out a thoughtful little noise to himself. The two hadn't noticed Nicole and her brother approach, though when she gave a little knock on the hood of a car she knew for sure wasn't a robot, did they realize their presence and immediately go still.

Colton was beyond excitement at this point, desperately trying to contain himself as he stared at the vehicles.

"It's alright you two. I'm sure you know my brother." She introduced, nudging him closer to the two Autobots. "Colton, meet Ratchet, and Optimus Prime."

"A pleasure," Ratchet began, "And an honor to meet you," Optimus finished.

The boy nearly let out a shriek of delight, hardly able to properly comprehend what was going on. He had so many questions to ask!  
>Just looking at the expression on his face, Nicole knew that they would be here for quite some time.<p>

"You better have a good excuse for mom and dad."


End file.
